Your Right to Know

View SlideshowRequest to buy this photoCourtney Hergesheimer | DISPATCHBilly Cain, 8, tries on some clothes as his father, Bill Cain, assists in back-to-school shopping at the School Days store in Clintonville.

Each week, Keith and Teresa Eagle sit
down with their two daughters to decide what they will eat in the coming days.

Planning meals and sticking to a grocery list help the Clintonville family save money at the
store and avoid pricey restaurants.

“We plan based on our activities. If we’ve got something going on and are going to be home late,
we plan something that can be made quickly,” said Mrs. Eagle, 41, who works as an
information-technology manager.

The family used to eat out several times a week, easily spending $20 or more at a fast-food
restaurant and more for a sit-down meal.

“Planning really saves us money — less trips to the grocery, less eating out and less gas,” said
Mr. Eagle, 42.

He works at a home-improvement store, a job that allows him to be at their home on E. Beaumont
Road in the afternoons to oversee piano lessons, sports and other after-school activities for their
girls, ages 12 and 8.

He cuts lawns and clears snow for extra money. He would like to get rid of his oversized
Suburban, which guzzles $250 to $300 a month in gasoline, but it’s paid for and he doesn’t want a
car payment.

The Eagles have plenty of company in this middle-class neighborhood of charming older homes,
towering trees and well-kept lawns.

Featuring some of Columbus’ most-desirable neighborhoods,
this section of north Clintonville — from north of
E. North Broadway up to Worthington, including Beechwold — has not been hit as
hard by the economic downturn as other parts of Ohio.

State and local governments and Ohio State University provide good-paying jobs for many in this
area. But as the economy continues to struggle, even those who have held on to their jobs are
feeling squeezed.

Paychecks have not kept up with the cost of health care, gasoline, groceries and other expenses,
forcing families to cut their spending. They are eating at home, shopping at thrift stores and
garage sales, skipping vacations and saving less, if at all, for college and retirement.

On E. Beechwold Boulevard, Tom and Kathy Brennen always look for ways to save a few bucks. They
buy a family pool pass at the end of the season before the rate goes up, pick up the annual
Entertainment Book of coupons in June when the price drops to $9, clip coupons, get movies from the
library, wear hand-me-down clothes and do their own home repairs, often with the help of online
tutorials.

They expanded their vegetable garden this year and, yes, “We do trash pick,” said Mrs. Brennen,
49.

“It’s recycling,” her husband quipped, adding that he nabbed firewood and a brand-new boombox
with speakers and remote control from neighborhood curbs.

Mrs. Brennen is a nurse who quit working several years ago to look after their three boys, now
ages 15, 10 and 8. Mr. Brennen, 46, works in telecommunications sales.

Mr. Brennen said health-care costs are putting the most pressure on the family’s budget. His
contribution to coverage provided by his employer, along with co-pays and out-of-pocket costs, can
exceed $16,000 a year. Much of the expense is for his youngest son, who has special needs and
suffers seizures, requiring physical and speech therapies and pricey medications. The family still
is paying bills from his stay in the hospital last year.

“I’ve thought about not going to the doctor (myself), because I’m afraid that they’ll tell me to
go get something done and that I would have to pay for it,” Mrs. Brennen said.

Residents of these neighborhoods have not been immune to job loss, but few are burdened by the
trappings of outrageous mortgages and expensive cars that have exacerbated the financial blow for
some families.

On Olentangy Boulevard, Steve and Sheri Lohbauer are both out of work, getting by on a third of
the income they once did.

Three years ago, Mrs. Lohbauer suffered a severe reaction to cleaners used in the hospital where
she was a nurse, forcing her to stop working and collect disability benefits. Mr. Lohbauer was laid
off two years ago from his job at a printing company.

“I can’t get an interview,” said Mr. Lohbauer, 66.

It’s been tough financially, but the couple knows it could be worse.

“We’ve always lived within our means. We own our house; we don’t have credit cards,” he
said.

Mrs. Lohbauer, 51, said they have cut spending by shopping at Marc’s discount store and at
neighborhood garage sales. They don’t eat out, and purchases often are planned to the penny.

This fall, they will take their regular drive along the Blue Ridge Parkway to see the scenic
mountains of Virginia and North Carolina, but they won’t be pulling a camper behind their truck as
they usually do. With gas prices high, Mr. Lohbauer calculates they will save money by driving
their Ford Taurus, which gets better mileage, and by staying in modestly priced motels.

Scott and Ruth Kemp lost their jobs within five months of each other in 2009. With no prospects
for work and their savings quickly dwindling, “We got creative and grew vegetables,” said Mrs.
Kemp, 51.

The couple dug up the backyard of their Acton Road townhouse and now sell vegetables at a stand
at N. High Street and W. Cooke Road. This year, they rented some land in Sunbury for a second and
larger garden.

“We’ve downsized everything. We paid off and canceled every credit card, got rid of cable, and
we don’t eat out,” said Mr. Kemp, 47. Their television boasts rabbit ears to aid with
reception.

The couple, married only four years, are upbeat, but they aren’t making enough to pay the bills,
not year-round.

“Winters are rough,” said Mrs. Kemp, 50. “We need to find jobs or do something. We are talking
about selling seeds online.”

The circumstances are more dire for a single mother working at a North Side restaurant.

Marjorie Wayt, 28, serves specialty sandwiches and drinks to a well-dressed lunch crowd to
support herself and her 8-year-old son. Her modest earnings were enough when she worked 30 hours a
week, but her hours have been shaved to 15, making it difficult to put food on her own table.

“I pay the rent and my Goodyear (credit) card, but I can’t afford food. I buy milk and bread and
toilet paper sometimes,” she said.

She gets groceries from a food pantry operated by Cintonville-Beechwold Community Services and
recently went to a free farmers market that the center set up in a park near her apartment. She and
others loaded bags with melon, lettuce and zucchini.“This is great,” she said, smiling at her son
as he bit into a juicy peach, then a second. “I can’t afford fresh produce. It’s too expensive.”&
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Shopping with his 8-year-old son at a school-uniform store on N. High Street, Bill Cain, 37,
said he and his wife are fortunate to both be working, but they realize their jobs could disappear
at any time. Therefore, they watch what they spend.

Cain works as a purchaser for the federal government, and his wife is employed in child support
by Franklin County. Their salaries have held steady, allowing them to afford tuition for their two
children to attend a Catholic school, but like many, they pay a bigger share of their
employer-provided health care every year.

“We can’t afford to go on vacation every year like we did. Now, we take a nice vacation every
two or three years and stay home and go to the fair or Kings Island” in between, Cain said.